Recap – Chuck 3.10 “Chuck vs. the Tic Tac”

Did you miss last week’s revolutionary episode of Chuck, “Chuck vs. the Beard?” If so, here’s a recap.

This week’s Chuck, “Chuck vs. the Tic Tac,” opens in Honduras in 1989. A young lieutenant, Alexander Coburn, is told that he has not qualified for the U.S. army’s special operation team. This name was last heard when Ring hitman Paulie thought he recognized Casey as a former Army buddy in “Chuck vs. the Fake Name” Coburn leaves his superior’s tent disappointed, but he is met by a Colonel (played by the T-1000 himself, Robert Patrick) who offers him some Tic Tacs. The breath mints are his only reminder of home, as he is a member of a covert black ops squad. The Colonel asks Coburn if he’d like to join this elite group. Coburn can choose to go back home to his family, or he can be the soldier he always wanted to be and join the ops team. Coburn contemplates this as the camera pulls back to reveal Casey. Casey has been remembering when he made the decision to become the man he is today, and leave his former life as Alexander Coburn behind. While Casey snips a bonsai tree, a shadowy figure stands behind him. The man thanks Casey for taking his call, the call Casey received on the Ring phone at the end of the last episode. The man steps forward and reveals himself to be the Colonel. He tells Casey that General Beckmanis planning a “trace cell” mission to test the Los Angeles CIA headquarters’ security system. The Colonel wants Casey to pick up something for him, and gives Casey a three-pronged key.

Outside Casey’s apartment, Morgan is clad in full spy regalia. Using his night vision goggles and an iPhone, Morgan is recording his super-spy surveillance work. When he hears footsteps, he tries to hide, but the steps are getting closer. Chuck, who is not KGB or a ninja as Morgan had suspected, asks Morgan what he’s doing in the bushes. Morgan responds that he’s practicing his spy skills, but Chuck warns him that spy work is dangerous — there’s a reason Morgan is being kept out of the loop. Casey’s door opens and the best friends take cover. Chuck sees the Colonel (although not his face) leave Casey’s apartment. There is clearly something going on with Casey, but Chuck can’t put his finger on it.

At Castle, General Beckman informs the team of their trace cell mission, which Sarah informs Chuck (and the audience) is essentially spy proofing their own security. The team is to attempt to get past each of fifteen levels of security and break into the subterranean vault in the CIA’s Los Angeles headquarters. The General informs them that Agent Shaw will not be joining them as he is attending meetings in Washington, D.C. Further, Sarah (sporting some new wavy hair) will have to change her flight to a later one so she can join Shaw after the mission. When Chuck wonders if everyone has a mission within a mission (Shaw and Sarah in D.C., possibly Casey with whomever was at his apartment), Casey informs Chuck that he believes the nature of Sarah’s trip to be personal. Sarah’s slightly embarrassed look confirms Casey’s belief. “That explains why I was left out of that loop,” remarks Chuck.

The team makes its way to the CIA facility. On Level One, they encounter a long, barren hallway with a door to Level Two at the end. Chuck, evidently not remembering his Indiana Jonesmovies, goes to walk through the hall, but is stopped by Casey. Casey throws a rock bouncing down the hall and a hail of darts is released from the walls. Chuck needs to flash a way to get through. He concentrates and flashes some ninja acrobatic skills. Chuck takes off backflipping down the hall, reaches the end, and turns off the security. Level One complete. Time skips to the entrance of the team on Level 15 and the vault. Casey orders Sarah to watch the door as he and Chuck go inside. Casey has Chuck’s back as the hero opens a safe deposit box. While Chuck is doing this, Casey moves to another box, number 092407. Casey takes out the key the Colonel gave him and opens the box. Inside, he finds an oval pill box with one pill inside. Chuck opens his safe deposit box and finds a note on General Beckman’s letterhead simply saying, “Job well done.” When Chuck reconnects with Casey, he sees Casey lock the box back up. Chuck asks if Casey is working on some side mission, but Casey pulls a gun on his friend. “Breathe a word of this to anyone, and you’re as good as a dead man, Bartowski.” Sarah enters and asks if everything is OK, to which Chuck assents.

Back in Burbank, Devon knocks on Chuck’s door; he wants help convincing Ellie to join Doctors Without Borders. They hear Ellie rushing over to Chuck’s place too, so Devon ducks out the back. When Ellie arrives, she tells Chuck that she has realized her childhood dream by receiving a neurology fellowship at USC. She wants to do the fellowship, but Doctors Without Borders is the first thing Devon has been really excited about in a long time. She wants Chuck to help her decide what to do. Chuck’s assistance, however, will have to wait. He receives a text from Casey to meet at Castle, but to not tell anyone about their encounter in the vault. At Castle, General Beckman informs the team that their security test was a day too late. Seems someone broke into the vault and stole a pill of an experimental drug called Laudanol. Laudanol is desired by the Ring because it suppressesemotions, including fear, in soldiers. “No fear? Will it help me flash?” wonders Chuck. “You won’t feel anything,” Sarah warns Chuck. “I know. I’ll work perfectly,” Chuck fantasizes, much to Sarah’s chagrin (Side note: How many times is poor Yvonne Strahovski going othave to give the “I’m concerned Chuck is losing who he is” look? I mean, she does it really well, but she has to do it every single week. Hopefully what occurs later in this episode will mean the end of this. Sorry, rant over.). Chuck begins to laugh — he knows what this is. This must be another spy test: Casey pretends to steal the Laudanol to see if Chuck will rat him out. Good one, General. The General, however, is notlaughing. She asks Chuck if he’s positive Casey stole the drug. “Yeah……….noooo,” Chuck responds after seeing Casey tear him apart with only a glance. Sarah, realizing the situation, slowly grabs her gun. Casey is the most loyal spy she has worked with, she tells the General. The General asks Casey point blank if he stole the pill. Casey invokes his Fifth Amendment right to not incriminate himself, and hands over his gun to Sarah. Chuck is simply left in a state of shock.

In the Buy More, Chuck asks Morgan for some help. He needs to know if Morgan recorded Casey’s meeting. Morgan, excited that he gets to help on one of Chuck’s missions, quickly concurs, and the two go to the stock room to listen to the recording. Skipping past the part where Morgan’s carrot chewing blocks out everything else (Morgan gets hungry on stakeouts, evidently), Chuck sees the face of the Colonel and flashes. The Colonel is Colonel James Keller. Keller was in Honduras in 1989 and was dishonorably discharged from the military, and is now an agent for The Ring. Morgan, seeing Chuck’s reaction, asks Chuck what he knows. Chuck, using a wonderful old spy trope, tells his best bud that the fewer details Morgan knows, the safer he’ll be.

Meanwhile, Sarah and some agents are going through Casey’s apartment. When the agents are rough with Casey’s things, Sarah asks them to have a little respect for a great agent. Chuck enters and Sarah informs him that Casey is being moved to a black site prison in Thailand, beyond the U.S.’ torture statutes (political commentary!) in the morning. Chuck tells Sarah about his flash; Casey is being set up, so they need to break him out of prison and clear his name by the morning. Sarah tells him that if they are caught, life as he knows it is over, andChuck will never be a spy. “Is that what you want?” Sarah asks. “It’s Casey,” Chuck simply replies. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” Sarah replies with a smile. Chuck and Sarah arrive at the CIA’s L.A. facility where Casey is being held on Level 15. Chuck flashes his ninja skills and begins his flips down the hallway, but something is different. He relaizes too late that there are no darts, but instead, a plexiglass wall, which Chuck flips right into. An alarm begins to sound and a dweebish man flanked by two gun-toting agents confront Chuck and Sarah. Chuck and Sarah begin to applaud the dweeb. Noting the fine work of the new security system. Chuck even “calls” General Beckman to inform her of what great, and fast, work has been done to improve the security system. The dweeb, StanleyFitzroy (meaning “son of the king,” of course), is flattered that Agents Carmichael and Walker are impressed with his work. In fact, they are so impressed, they’d love to see what he’s done with Level 15. His ego swelling, Fitzroy quickly agrees to show them.

At their apartment, Devon and Ellie are furiously pedaling their stationary bikes. Of course, this output of energy is fueled by their argument over what to do about Doctors Without Borders and USC. They decide to go talk to Chuck, but are greeted only by Morgan when they knock on the door. Devon notes that a third opinion never hurts, so the couple simultaneously pitches their opinion on the matter to Morgan. Morgan, still enamored with Ellie, tells Devon that he’s being selfish. Devon asks the judge for a sidebar and pulls Morgan inside. Morgan and Devon circle each other, with Devon telling Morgan that if the bearded one knew what the doctor did, he would know that Ellie is safest away from Burbank. Likewise, Morgan tells Devon that if the doc knew what hedid, Devon would know that Ellie is actually safer here. Chuck would look after her, Morgan states. But Chuck’s job can be very demanding, Devon counters. A hilarious “Do you know?” “Do you know?” type of Who’s on First?-type scene erupts between the two (Who’s On First?,by the way, is one of the funniest comedy bits in history. Watch it, it’s hysterical, especially if you know anything about baseball. Trust me.). Finally, Morgan suggests they say what they know on the count of three. 1…2…..3! “Chuck’s a….,” neither wants to be the one to finish, but they both realize the other knows Chuck is a spy. Morgan suggests how cool it is that their friend is a spy. “Yeah, it’s awesome,” Devon responds, “but every time I go on a mission, I put Ellie in danger.” “You went on missions?” Morgan jealously asks. The two come to an agreement, and return to Ellie outside. Morgan tells Ellie that she should do Doctors Without Borders.

Fitzroy has taken Chuck and Sarah to Level 15, and informs them that the only way into the vault is the keycard that remains solely in his possession. Despite reading all of Agent Carmichael’s mission reports (and being thoroughly impressed by them), he can’t give Chuck the card. Growing impatient, Sarah punches Fitzroy in the face and takes the card. There is an explosion, and on the vault’s monitor, they can see a hole has been blown into Casey’s cell. Chuck and Sarah open the door and find Col. Keller with some men standing in the hole in the wall. Casey is in the middle and must decide with whom he’s going. Chuck tells Casey that he’s being played by Keller, a member of The Ring. In sotto voce, Casey simply says, “I know,” and leaves with Keller. As Chuck and Sarah leave the facility, they are grabbed, have hoods thrown on their heads and put in a car. They are brought to Castle and are chewed out by an in-person General Beckman. They are informed that Casey’s secret personnel file has been opened. Casey was formerly Alexander Coburn, and was recruited for special black ops by Colonel Keller. The two of them should be immediately thrown in jail for treason, but, fortunately for them, they are the only ones who can retrieve the Laudanol, and capture Casey, dead or alive.

Morgan, returning home from work, is stopped by a gardener in the apartment’s courtyard. Morgan immediately recognizes Casey. Casey asks Morgan if he wants to help on a mission. Morgan, of course, eagerly accepts. Meanwhile, Chuck and Sarah gear up for their new mission. Chuck doesn’t understand how Casey, someone who has made a career out of serving his country, could have lied to them for three years. Sarah tells him that the longer one is a spy, the more things are no longer black and white, but shades of grey. “You don’t know what to believe in. You don’t know who to believe in," she laments. Sarah finally voices what she has only said in looks up to this point: she’s afraid Chuck has changed. She knows he wants to be a perfect spy, but he shouldn’t lose the guy she met years ago. “Don’t lost the thing that made you great,” she says with a smile, while passing Chuck a gun. “I’ll always be that guy,” Chuck says with a smile, and pushes back the gun (it may have gotten a little dusty in my apartment at this point). There is a pregnant pause, with so much being said without words. Chuck starts to make an admission to Sarah, but she cuts him off. If Keller went to the trouble of busting Casey out of a CIA prision, he must not have the pill yet. Chuck offers that Casey likelyfound someone impressionable and willing to secure the pill. A quick glance at the monitor viewing the Buy More reveals the obvious target, Morgan.

Morgan goes into the DVD section and pulls a Planet of the Apes case. Attached to the inside is the Laudanol pill. Chuck finds his buddy and asks if Casey sent Morgan to the Buy More. He says that, yes, Casey asked him to come, but also to not tell Chuck anything. Chuck counters by offering to answer anyof Morgan’s questions about Chuck’s missions in exchange for the case. Morgan agrees and hands over the case. Chuck stealthily returns home while calling Sarah to tell her he has secured the pill, but doesn’t see Casey waiting for him behind his door. Casey pulls his gun on Chuck again. “I believed in you. I trusted you,” Chuck pleads with Casey. Chuck tells him that he knows about his past as Alexander Coburn and Keller’s turn to The Ring. Why would Casey steal the Laudanol for them? Chuck keeps Casey talking as Sarah, gun drawn, enters undetected from behind. Casey comes clean: Alexander Coburn…he had a fiance, named Kathleen McHugh. The Ring has threatened to kill her within the hour if he doesn’t bring them the Laudanol. Chuck and Sarah say they will help protect Kathleen and take down Keller. They decide that Chuck will go to Kathleen’s house while Casey and Sarah go after the Colonel.

Casey drives to the meeting spot with the Colonel and his men. He is frisked, but states he has no weapon, only a cigar that he’d like to smoke. The men agree and Casey lights the stogie, while dropping his matches on the ground with five matches erect. Chuck makes his way to Kathleen’s house, posing as a guy from the gas company. He tells her there is a leak so she must leave immediately. Upon seeing a couple goons coming, though, he orders her back inside, and eventually locks her in a closet. Casey is shown into Keller’s tent and throws him the pill box. Keller opens it to reveal…a Tic Tac! Keller is not pleased, and asks Casey how he’s going to get out of there alive now that he’s double-crossed the Colonel. “What did I always tell you?” Keller asks Casey, “Make sure to have someone watch your back.” “I know,”Casey replies. Outside, Sarah, spotted with oil, lowers himself from Casey’s car’s undercarriage. She sees the matches, and sees the five standing ones. “Five against one,” she says, noting the number of her adversaries. Sarah gets the jump on the goons and takes them out while Casey take son his old boss. In a great fight (although I did see the stuntman’s clearly-not-Robert-Patrick face at one point), Casey eventually gains the upper hand, grabbing the Colonel by the neck, and snapping it. With Chuck hiding around a corner, the Colonel’s guys enter Kathleen’s house, claiming to be the gas company. “I’m the gas company!” Chuck states. He calls Casey and Sarah to find out their location. Casey tells Chuck to take the Laudanol pill, with his fear gone, he’d be able to flash and fight the soldiers. Somewhat begrudgingly, Chuck does take the pill as the men enter. Believing him to be the actual gas guy, one of the men knocks Chuck to the floor with the butt of his gun. On his back, Chuck sees the guy pistol whip Kathleen with the gun. Chuck flashes his kung fu skills, but additional neck-snapping “license to kill” skills. “I’m not afraid of any of you,” Chuck says rising to face the gunman’s pointed weapon. The guy fires, but Chuck dodges the bullet! In one of Zachary Levi’s best fights, he takes on the three men, dodging a second bullet in the process, and kicking a tchotchke into a guy’s face. He eventually grabs the first gunman by the neck like Casey did Keller. Sarah runs in and yells at Chuck to stop. Chuck turns to face her with the most evil look ever seen on Chuck’s face to date. He turns back to his would-be killer, and drops him. He looks to a scared Sarah and then to his hands, unbelieving at what he almost did.

Casey rouses Kathleen, who has been laying unconscious on the floor. She sees a fuzzy image of her former fiance, but doesn’t recognize him. Casey flashes back to the last, loving phone call he had with Kathleen back in 1989. He tells her that he only has one more mission left, but then he’ll return to her, but she tells him to not worry about her. He has devoted himself to his country, and she couldn’t be more proud, so he needs to do his duty. Kathleen continues that she has news for him, but before she can tell him what the news is, Keller hangs up the phone. Keller tells him that Alex Coburn has been killed in battle, and hands him dog tags for John Casey. Casey is returned to today by the sounds of Kathleen’s daughter, Alex, running in to her mother. Casey goes to leave, but Chuck stops him, saying Casey should tell Kathleen who he is. “Dead is dead. It’s too late now,” Casey responds (Between the daughter being named Alex andthe use of “dead is dead,” this has to be a Lost reference, right?)

General Beckman debriefs the team back at Castle. Normally, she would have to throw someone in jail for doing what Casey did, but Casey isn’t just “someone.” She’s going to give Casey a 2nd second chance, but…as a civilian. When Chuck protests, she states that Casey has had no problem starting over before, he’ll just have to do it again. For the last time, MisterCasey is dismissed. Casey salutes the General. “Good luck, John,”the General replies, a bit ruefully, and asks Chuck to escort Casey off of government property. Left with Sarah, the General commends her for her work with the Intersect. “He seems to need you less and less,” she compliments. “Chuck certainly has changed. He’s becoming a perfect spy,” Sarah responds wistfully. The General informs Sarah that she hasn’t forgotten Sarah’s request for a transfer. There is a spot on the General’s flight back to D.C. if Sarah wants to join her to talk about it.

Ellie sees Chuck in the apartment courtyard. She has decided that she will join Doctors Without Borders. Even though USC has been her dream, she loves Devon more, and sometimes that requires sacrifice. Devon enters and asks if he can steal Ellie away for a minute. He brings her home to an apartment decorated for a private Congratulations party. He knows that USC is important to her, and therefore, it is important to him. Ellie should take the job. She smiles, and they celebrate. In Casey’s barren apartment, Casey stares at his bonsai tree. Chuck suggests that civilian life won’t be so bad; he can always go back to Kathleen and tell her the truth. They have a daughter that Casey should know. Casey tells Chuck that he chose country over a personal life; Chuck needs to make the same choice. “Walker is a good woman. It’s still not too late,” Casey warns Chuck. But it may be too late. Sarah is in the back of a car, and the driver asks her if she lives in D.C. “No, but I’m thinking about moving here,” she tearfully(?) tells him.

Commentary

I thought this was a great episode of Chuck, especially after the middling “Chuck vs. the Beard” last week. Yes, this wasn’t one of the most comic episodes of the series, but I thought the action was great, and the drama was real. We all knew Adam Baldwin was a fine actor (I mean, who can do more with simple grunts?), but he was on fire in this episode. I fully bought the idea that underneath the hard exterior, he really had a burning heart. The reveal that he had a fiance provided some great depth to his character: no wonder Casey is so hardened, by-the-book and impersonal. He can’t let anyone in or he might lose them like he did Kathleen. I know we’ve seen this trope may times before, but I thought Baldwin’s performance made it fresh and believable. Also, I am very interested to see how the Casey-as-civilian story plays out. I think they should let this hang out there for a while. There is some great potential for scenes in which Casey is now like Season 1/2 Chuck and has to be told to stay in the car, or can’t help for legal reasons. Baldwin andLevi, who work great together, could really have some fun in these types of situations. Also, we may, finally!, have a resolution for Sarah’s “please don’t change, Chuck” feelings. I mean, she literally voiced them to Chuck in this episode, and Chuck physically and verbally allayed her fears. Now, could a situation make him take this back? Of course, but at least for now, we can move away from this storyline.

In secondary character analysis, I thought it was great that they wrapped up the Doctors Without Borders plot within one episode, and that Morgan and Devon realized that they both know Chuck’s secret. They could have played this out for a string of episodes, and made us tire of it in the process. Fortunately, they spared us this potential problem. It’s funny, although I preferred Morgan and Devon both know the secret, I’m glad Ellie doesn’t. Ellie is the most likely to freak out and worry about her brother (obviously), so keeping her in the dark is wise from Chuck’s point of view. But, by having the two guys know, some great comedy gold can be mined as the play off each other, Chuck, and try to hide it from Ellie. I think this is a great situation to be in for the writers. After last week’s revolution, I totally didn’t mind the Buy More guys being absent. They are wonderful characters, played by wonderful actors, but a little can go a long way. After getting a whole of them last week, having none of them this week was probably best.

OK, that’s what I have for this week. What did you think about this episode? Did you enjoy the drama and character development as much as I did? What about Chuck dodging bullets from three feet? Plausible? Ridiculous? How long do you think Casey will be a civilian? Do you see the potential for great things from this story like I do? Please leave your questions, comments a” theories below. Be sure to come back next week for “Chuck vs. the Final Exam,” and to TVOvermind for all of your TV needs. I’m off to criticize the non-moving upper lips of the Planet of the Apes.